By the time Gaten Matarazzo — a/k/a Dustin of Stranger Things — was born in 2002, we were living in a world where mixes were burned to CDs instead of lovingly recorded to cassette tapes.

That doesn't mean he can't appreciate the format, though. And if anything, the '80s vibe of Stranger Things and his parents' influence have given him a leg up in understanding the culture of the decade — and the cool gadgets it left behind.

TMZ got (delightfully) shut down pretty much immediately when they asked Matarazzo if he could spill any spoilers about the upcoming second season of the Netflix hit, but the actor seemed game to gush about All Things '80s.

"I love the music from the '80s, especially the stuff they have in the show!" he said. "My dad's a big fan. He likes the Clash, the Smiths, and the Talking Heads ... and he introduced me to everything like that, that style, that time period."

And what about technology circa Stranger Things? "I like knowing what a Walkman is and none of my friends knowing what it is," he said. "It's really funny trying to explain to them what it is. 'So you put the thing in it?!' 'Yeah, you don't have it on there. No. It's not on there. You gotta put the thing in.'"